'Stalwart of the Delaware State Senate' Robert I. Marshall dies

Former lawmaker Robert I. Marshall, who served in the state Senate for four decades, died over the weekend.

Marshall began his career in the state Senate shortly after being elected in 1978 and served until he announced his retirement in 2018. In his final years in office, the Democrat pushed for legislation to raise Delaware's minimum wage.

He was 77.

"He was a stalwart of the Delaware state Senate," former state Sen. Harris B. McDowell III said. "I served with him for 40 years and it was a pleasure every day of it."

Marshall was a supporter of labor and community issues and was always on top of his game, McDowell said.

"I will miss him," he added.

Younger people who met Marshall attributed their taste for politics to him and his wealth of knowledge about the subject.

"Sen. Marshall gave me my first opportunity to work on a political campaign from a serious perspective," said Keith James, who worked on Marshall's mayoral campaign. In addition to introducing James to different politicians across Delaware, Marshall also helped teach him the "ins and outs of politics."

"I got to be around him and learn a lot from him from all of his years of experience," James said, adding that while Marshall wanted to win, it seemed like he was having more fun meeting with his constituents.

"He was just an all-around great dude," he added.

A different style politician

Born in Wilmington on Oct. 16, 1946, Marshall grew up in Hedgeville and attended Salesianum High School before getting a bachelor's degree from Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey.

With the help of his uncle, Leo T. Marshall, who was Wilmington City Democrat chairman, the younger Marshall was appointed to city and state jobs, this included director of the state Division of Business and Occupational Licenses. The younger Marshall acknowledged he got those jobs through his uncle.

Marshall ran for a state House seat in 1972, but lost in the Democratic primary. When Marshall finally ran for state Senate in 1978, his Republican opponent, John E. Stawicki, complained about who he was running against.

"I'm running against Leo Marshall," Stawicki was quoted in the Nov. 4, 1978, issue of The Morning News — Delaware Online/The News Journal's predecessor. "I'm not running against Bobby Marshall."

Marshall went on to win that race and all his other state Senate races.

Throughout his 40 years in the upper chamber, Marshall served on several committees and was chair of the Senate Labor Committee. He was also Senate majority whip from 1989 to 1990 and from 1995 to 1996.

Kevin F. Kelley Sr., a former Wilmington city councilman who grew up a few blocks from where Marshall grew up in Hedgeville, said Marshall was a different style politician, who was very involved in the city and came from a political family.

"He was a deal maker," Kelley said, "and he always loved the art of the deal."

Despite being an elected lawmaker for 40 years, Kelley said the son of a union carpenter remembered his roots and fought to improve people's lives.

"He never forgot where he came from," Kelley said.

Some of his policies include:

• Marshall pushed legislation to increase the standard of care nursing homes were providing. The legislation, which was passed by the General Assembly in 2000, was named the “Eagle Law” after Marshall’s father Ignatius “Eagle” Marshall. Marshall’s father had lived in a Wilmington nursing home before his death in 1997, and the former senator said he’d witnessed many problems with patient care in that home.

• He was responsible for helping improve parks on Wilmington’s west side.

• He helped fund mini police stations that Wilmington set up years ago.

• He also pushed the Work-a-Day, Earn-a-Pay program, which provides jobs for unemployed Delawareans to build public works projects.

Before his retirement announcement, newcomers Elizabeth "Tizzy" Lockman and Jordan Hines announced in 2017 they would run against Marshall. The 12-term incumbent, at that time, said his priorities in the new session would be raising the minimum wage and improving the education system, including pursuing the establishment of a trade school.

Marshall announced his retirement on social media a couple of months ahead of the Democratic primary.

"My sincere gratitude and appreciation to the People for a long career in the Delaware State Senate supported by many," he wrote on Facebook. "I look forward to devoting more time to business interests."

Lockman, who won that race and is currently the Senate majority whip, said she was saddened to hear of Marshall's death.

"I have very fond memories of him," Lockman said. "He was never anything but kind and supportive and a character that I liked."

Lockman said Marshall had some "really cool" issues that he was so committed and made some really good contributions. "So, you know, proud to be able to share a Senate seat with him," she said, "and just sad that he is gone."

In his last year in office, Marshall managed to secure a $1 bump in the state's minimum wage.

“Sen. Robert Marshall was a tireless champion for the City of Wilmington and working class families throughout Delaware," Lockman, along with Senate leadership — President Pro Tempore David P. Sokola and Majority Leader Bryan Townsend — said in a statement Tuesday evening.

"Thousands of Delawareans were able to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads thanks to consistent advocacy for minimum wage increase, workforce training, strong labor unions and the Port of Wilmington. His advocacy for criminal justice reform also helped to make Delaware prisons safer for correction officers and inmates.

"Our thoughts are with his family and his neighbors who supported him through four decades of exemplary public service to our state.”

Mayor run

While won his state Senate seat races, Marshall was less successful when running for mayor of Wilmington.

His first bid for mayor of Delaware's largest city was in 2012, but he dropped out before the primary citing initiatives in the Legislature that took his time while others were campaigning.

Marshall again ran for Wilmington mayor in 2016 pledging to address public safety by changing how the Police Department is supervised.

"The chronic problems of Wilmington must be addressed in a practical and realistic manner or we face more than just a crisis in confidence," Marshall said in announcing his candidacy in 2015. "We can't function for the good of our citizens without a commitment to travel a new path."

Marshall was among seven Democratic candidates vying to unseat first-term Mayor Dennis P. Williams.

Marshall lost the primary, coming in last with a little more than 200 votes. Mike Purzycki ended up winning the primary and becoming the city's mayor.

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Former state Sen. Robert I. Marshall died over the Easter Weekend